Improvement in car-couplings



.T. BJTRACY.

CAR-COUPLING.

Patented Aug. 29., 1876.

WRTNESSES:

R o T N E V W NPETERS. FHOT0L\THOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON, D Cv UNITED STATESATENT QFFICE.

JOSEPH e. TRACY, OF LINCOLN, DELAWARE. I

IMPROVEMENT IN CARQC OUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 181,606, dated August29, 1876; application filed March 8, 1875.

Y To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPn B. TRACY, of Lincoln, in the county of Sussexand State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Oar-Couplings and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theannexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1is a front view of the head, with the link and pin in position, showingthe front of bridge and front beam of platform, with the lever attachedto uncouple the cars. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same, the twobuffer-heads in a position to couple together, showing the open-headeddraw-bar, with springs, plates, stop, and stirrups attached under stringtimbers A in Fig. 2, and front beam A The nature of this inventionrelates to method of coupling railroad-cars, whereby the same areautomatically attached, and consists in devices which will be more fullyhereinafter described.

In the drawing, A represents the stringtimbers, and A the front'beam. Bis the butter-head, made curved or fiat, as may be desired. Under thestring-timbers are the straps and guides, to sustain the draw-bar O andthe springs c c, the latter within the former. The function of c is totake the strain of the bufferhead B, which is connected with it by theframe-work B. The spring 0 is immediately around the stem of thedraw-bar O, and takes the strain upon it. The devices are all found informer patents, and I do not claim them; but the manner in which theyhave been arranged by me effects a new purpose, which will be hereafterexplained. The draw-bar O is open-ended, and so beveled inwardly that,as it is fitted to the inside of the buffer-head B, it forms a flareddraw-head to guide the link to its proper position for the coupling-pine, and also with the beveled upper and lower. surfaces, to adjust thelink for being guided to lower or higher platforms as may be, and asshown at b b in Fig. 2, wherelink g is shown tilted into an inclinedposition. The draw-bar O has a shelf, 0, which supports the coupling-pine, and in it is a hole for the pin to drop into. In the plate B of thebufl er-head is an elongated slot, through which the pin e projects, andrests upon the shelf 0, all as shown in Fig. 2. The pin 0 is constructedwith a long web, 6, which has at its bottom a hook, e. The pin is guidedin a tube, at, which has projecting wings, forming aguideway, d, for theweb 8, and its upper sides are fastened by a pin, d, which serves twopurposes: first, to fasten the sides and, secondly, to arrest the pin 6by means of the hook e, and prevent the pin 0 from jumping out of thetube. The tube or standard is thus constructed with inclined back 12, sothat, as the pin 6 is drawn out to its fullest extent, the hook e,impinging upon the slope d, brings the pin 0 to its vertical positionand when it is ready to drop-when the draw-head is forced iii-there isno friction to detain it or prevent its gravitation at once through thehole. This construction is adapted to the rapid action of the pin, as,in the arrangement previously referred to, it is the purpose of thisimprovement to couple the cars before the shock of contact, as, in othercases where the buffersreceive the whole shock previous to coupling, therecoil of the cars is quicker than the dropping of the pin, and hencethe failure to couple; and in this particular is the gist of thisimprovement. The lower side of hook e is so beveled that, by itspressure on the link g, it is tilted, as shown in Fig. 2, or by liftingthe pin the link, by its weight outwardly, will come to an angle, thehooke supporting the inner end for high or low plat-forms. The platformE, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, is hinged so that when the pin 6 isdrawn up by the action of the lever F, as shown in Fig. 1, it is thrownup, and serves as a signal that the coupling is open. Its purpose isalso to permit the easy withdrawal of the pin should it require removal,&c. When the pin falls in the act of coupling, the platform E will fallalso into its normal position by its own weight.

Operation: The chain G, which in Fig. 2 is represented as pendent,should be attached to the rear side of the buffer-head B. The shelf 0supports the pin 0 until it is forced over the hole in draw-head O, thelink 9 being placed in the orifice of draw-bar U and against the curvedsurface back at o. By inserting a lever in one ofthe links of chain Gand forcing the buffer B inwardly, the pin 6 will drop through the holein the shelf 0 and link 9, thus attaching the link. The height of theouter end of g may be adjusted by the depth of the pin 6, as beforeexplained. When the cars come together, the buffers B B touching, theyare each forced inwardly; the one holding the link 9 then takes thestrain on both springs, while the uncoupled bufl'er, acting upon onespring, 0, is forced inwardly until the pin 0 is carried over the holein shelf 0', and then drops through link 9, which has been inserted atthe first encounter. After the pin drops, the spring 0 of second carreceives the shock and recoils; but, the coupling being complete, thecars do not separate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. The bufler-head sliding over the shelf at tached to the draw-bar, incombination with the couplingpin, whereby the coupling is completedprevious to the concussion of the cars, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. The hinged platform E, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. e

3. The combination of the hinged platform and the bent lever F,substantially as and for the purpose described. I

4. The combination of the coupling-pin 0, having the web a and hook 6,with the beveled surface d and pin d of the guide-tube d.

JOSEPH B. TRACY.

Attest:

R0131. V. HUGHES, J. J. SULLI AN.

